UK-Florida notes: Gators return emphasis to defense

Kentucky might not be the only team displaying a late-season “tweak” in the O’Connell Center on Tuesday night. Florida has also worked on altering its approach.

Florida Coach Mike White said he had returned the focus to defense.

“Over the past three or four weeks, we probably spent too much time and given too much focus on offense,” he said Monday. “Getting shots up. Shooting a million free throws. Spending too much time trying to figure out ways to manufacture points.

“We got a little better offensively. But it took away from us being a good defensive team. We haven’t guarded the same way here of late.”

White concluded that the Gators “spent too much time on things we’re not good at.”

Earlier this season, White spoke openly about Florida’s problems scoring.

“We’re not a great offensive team,” he said Feb. 22. “We’re not. We’re a team that has improved from a couple months ago. …. We are a team that relies on one guy who has had offensive success and one guy who has had offensive experience.”

“Our next best scorer is a true freshman.”

The one player Florida relies upon is fifth-year senior Dorian Finney-Smith. Its second-best scoring option is freshman KeVaughn Allen.

“We’ve been searching all year,” White said of the poor offense. “We’ve been through a lot of trial and error. I don’t know what the answer is.”

Apparently, the answer was to play to the team’s strength, which is defense.

“Yesterday, 100 percent of the practice was defense,” White said. “And today, we’ll spend a lot more time on defense as well. I guess it’s always a balancing act, and we’ve got to get back to defending at a high level to give ourselves a chance.”

Job 1: Contain Murray

White set a priority on containing Jamal Murray, who had career-highs for points (35) and three-point baskets (eight) when Kentucky defeated Florida last month.

“First and foremost, we have to know where he is,” White said of the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Week. “He’s the only guy you cannot over-help off of. His whereabouts are of the utmost importance in transition defense, loose ball, offensive rebound situations. We need to run him off the three-point line. That’s no secret. It’s everybody formula for him. We just did a subpar job of doing that in Lexington. We need to do a much better job on Jamal Murray before we can do anything else.”

Willis update

As the media waited for UK Coach John Calipari to appear at Monday’s news conference, Derek Willis walked by. Unlike last week, he was not using crutches.

Calipari later said Willis would not play at Florida. “Let’s hope he can play Saturday,” the UK coach said.

‘Butt-whipping’

“We’re licking our wounds after a good butt-whipping at Rupp,” White said two days after Kentucky beat Florida 80-61 on Feb. 6.

Intensity

During the game at LSU last weekend, ESPN announcers questioned the Florida players’ effort.

The Gators looked “disinterested,” ESPN’s so-called bracketologist Joe Lunardi said.

Commentator Dan Dakich said it was “inexplicable” that Florida players did not play as if their “hair was on fire.”

Apparently, the intensity rose in practice Sunday.

“They got after each other yesterday to a tune that makes you wonder where the intensity level was during the game at Baton Rouge,” White said. “Hopefully, it’ll carry over tomorrow night.”

White all but promised a spirited effort by his players.

“We’ll play extremely hard tomorrow,” he said. “I have no doubts about that from the tip. It’s a huge opportunity for us. It’s Senior Night. Last game in the O’Dome for a while. It’s the Kentucky Wildcats. We’ll come out and be about the right things.”

Poythress ‘caved in’

Calipari lamented the effect “two ridiculous calls” had on Alex Poythress in the Vanderbilt game.

“Alex did not walk,” the UK coach said. “You saw it. And he did not trip the guy.

“It was two ridiculous calls. But that kind of caved him in. You can’t be that way.

“We’re trying to talk to him about that. We had it all year. All year, we’ve had that. So. Just play.”

It was impossible to tell if Calipari meant the referees have made “ridiculous calls” all year or Poythress has not reacted well to calls all year. Or both.

“You can’t let a call or play cave you in,” Calipari said. “Just play through.”

SEC fines Vandy

The SEC fined Vanderbilt $100,000 because its fans rushed the court after Saturday’s victory over Kentucky. It was Vandy’s second offense of a league rule banning fans coming onto the playing surface.

The SEC fined Vandy $25,000 when its fans rushed the court after a victory over defending national champion Florida in 2007.

At its 2015 spring meetings, the SEC increased the fines for fans rushing the playing surface. The fines range from $50,000 for a first offense to as much as $100,000 for a second offense and as much as $250,000 for a third and subsequent offenses.

Earlier in the season, the SEC fined Auburn because its fans rushed the court after a victory over Kentucky.

Etc.

▪ Calipari all but ruled out freshman Tai Wynyard playing this season. Wynyard joined the team at the end of the fall semester. When asked if Wynyard might play, Calipari said, “Not at this point. I would say no.”

▪ Brad Nessler, Dick Vitale and sideline reporter Shannon Spake will call the game for ESPN.

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 6:51 PM with the headline "UK-Florida notes: Gators return emphasis to defense."